


Chasing Nightmares

by WindwiseWords



Series: Xenogen City [30]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Injury, Eventual Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Gestalt (Transformers), Holding Hands, Home Invasion, M/M, Major Character Injury, Medical Examination, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Non-Graphic Violence, Non-graphic Injury description, Shifters, Trespasser
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 09:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8484886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindwiseWords/pseuds/WindwiseWords
Summary: A scream in the night wakes up Freerun. An injured First Aid and missing medical records sends the whole of Xenogen into a panic. If only it were just a nightmare...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Its 6 am, I drank a Mountain Dew Game Fuel and this is what happened. I'm gonna go to bed, hope this helps make up for not posting for like over 36 hours. Love you guys, have a great morning!

Screaming echoed through Freerun, and soon following was a resounding smash of metal-to-metal wall. A few lights flicked on, guns out, and patrols started for the source of the sound. Bumblebee, visiting in, held up a hand to Hot Shot before jumping out, cannon ready. He found himself face to face with Knock Out, and instantly lowered it with an apologetic warble.

“You didn’t scratch my paint so we’re fine, Autobot.” Knock Out snapped out and looked at Breakdown, the pair scouting as well. “You heard it too? I think it was that little red and white medic.”

“Yea, sounded like First Aid for sure.” Hot Shot piped up, already walking that way. Breakdown got in front of him and shook his head.

“Let the heavy units take on the unknown.” Hot Shot nodded, deciding this wasn’t the time to prove his skill. Stalking up to the door, Breakdown instantly recognized a forced entry and smashed into the narrow doorframe to fit, hammer ready to smash and bash.

Knock Out followed after and began to scan for energon, any fluids, and any signs of First Aid. Sure enough a pooling trail of energon leaked out from behind a couch, along with soft whimpers. “Injured mech. Designation: First Aid. Prep a medical dock and get a team on standby.”

Knock Out knelt by First Aid and examined his curled body, nursing a wounded hand and forearm. Easy to treat. The massive impact-slash to his side would be harder. Knock Out, a weapons expert among other things, knew that had to be done by some type of heavy blade.

“First Aid!?” Scavenger, alerted by Breakdown’s call for a city-wide sweep, instantly came to check on his lover. He rushed in and to his credit began to sweep the house for intruders after Breakdown, double and triple checking all the hidey-holes he would know about like closets and cabinets. Knock Out waved him over.

The Mad Doctor carefully worked First Aid out of his hiding space and shushed him as he whimpered and looked around in fear. “Scavenger’s here to protect you. And I’m not going to let anyone get you either. Who did this?” Knock Out gently took his injured arm and set it in a bandage sling, then looked at his side. The arm wounds were defensive and the pacifist even drew his gun.

Bright and scared optics flickered with his pain as Knock Out bound his wounds and tried to pick pieces of metal from the oozing energon with careful claws. “I-I don’t know!” First Aid wailed then burst into tears, actually cuddling into Knock Out’s chest and shaking. “It looked like…Like Drift at first! But Drift doesn’t sound like that, and he doesn’t laugh! He took some medical files on Decepticons. Then he looked like… Like a golden seeker.”

Knock Out awkwardly patted the crying bot’s shoulder. _Such a weakling,_ he thought privately and carefully passed him off to Scavenger. “Get going. He needs to get to the Medical Sector.”

Scavenger took off as fast as he could, holding his little partner close and firm without putting too much pressure on him. To his surprise his gestalt was on his tail, keeping a close watch as they threaded through the streets. First Aid clung on tight.

Knock Out began to study what First Aid took from medical files, and tried to piece together what was missing. Mostly treatment plans, supplement charts and notes on patients. All Decepticons. Knock Out sighed, wondering if Aid put himself up to this to learn more about his new patients. Such valiant cause and this is what it brought him: pain and suffering.

Piecing together the files, he found all of them were seekers or mates of seekers, and Drift was the top image. _Deadlock,_ Knock Out mused, remembering the old designation thrown around from time to time. He paused and finally put the puzzle of what was stolen: All local trines and more importantly their mates’ data. Most worrisome, Starscream and Skyfire’s collective chart was gone.

“Ground all the seekers.” Knock Out paged Optimus’ private frequency and within moments air raid sirens were going off, Xenogen code for get your aft to cover and stay focused on the skies. “Recovery now, questions later.” Knock Out cut off the link, and Prime kept it closed.

Optimus rushed down the halls and began to collect reports pouring in from many sources, most notably a strange golden glow on the edge of one wall. Second most notably was the name Makeshift, someone Optimus had run into once though not directly. Picking his way through a river of minicons rushing to the underground for cover, Optimus set his sights on the Medical Sector, transformed and burned rubber.

 

Upon arrival Ratchet snatched First Aid away and instantly took him into the medical bay. “Scavenger.” He called, demanding the large bot come with them for protection. “Guard the door. If it isn’t Red Alert don’t let them by. Not even Knock Out, not even Optimus Prime.” Ratchet ran scans on First Aid and sighed. “He’s not critical.” Scavenger visibly relaxed. “Not yet.” Tense plating tightened down again.

“You can fix him though. You can fix anyone.” Scavenger murmured, and Ratchet looked at him quizzically before nodding.

Ratchet first set up an IV drip of energon and supplement minerals to jump start his auto-repair before detatching the cracked or dented plating. “Probably a two-handed sword. I heard someone mention Drift, but he’s holed up with Wing. I know he’s fast but there’s no way he made it from the Nest to Freerun in the time it took for me to get that call. I just visited them.”

“N-Not Drift.” First Aid shakily stated, and Ratchet looked at his apprentice with pain in his optics. A good kid. Ratchet hoped he saw the last of these wounds, but shook his head and continued to fix the little medic up.

“You fought back. How did you know it was a threat?” First Aid only fought if he thought he was about to die. Ratchet looked at his hand carefully, documenting the damage.

First Aid smiled behind his mask, Ratchet could tell easily. “Drift had a chip in his paint above his eye. He said he was getting it repainted tomorrow. Then he laughed.” First Aid, if nothing else, knew his patients by heart. Drift only laughed around Wing. Drift always put off repairs, would never have gotten it painted early. Ratchet couldn’t help but smile at Aid’s observational prowess.

Scavenger growled and smashed a foot down, clear aggression and warning for someone to stay back. “It’s Optimus, stand down.” Scavenger listened to Ratchet’s orders, CMO rank notwithstanding, he wasn’t going to let anyone near First Aid.

Ratchet finished the last cauterizing together of tubing before going to look at Optimus. He stared for a long time and Optimus stared back, not trying to make a case for himself, just standing there. After a few moments of this Ratchet waved him in.

“That’s Optimus.” Ratchet declared, though Scavenger still seemed wary. “Optimus, he’s not too terribly injured, but he fought. I think the rumors are true. Com chatter calls him Makeshift, a Decepticon Shifter.” Ratchet paused as new info flowed over the dim com stream. “Apparently he’s out of the city. Everyone is buddied up, following Prowl’s order.” A smart idea. Eyes on every bot, a bot looking at every eye.

Optimus nodded and glanced at First Aid, resting back now that he knew Xenogen cleared okay. “I am going to stay here. They went after medical records, so I will guard them.”

“Sir?” Scavenger came over and dropped into a kneeling bow. “Permission to stay with First Aid. I’ll watch over Ratchet too. Not that he isn’t capable.” Ratchet rolled his eyes and muttered ‘kiss up’ before going back to tending First Aid. A kiss up, but Ratchet appreciated the recognition.

Ratchet nodded as blue eyes fell on his back; he felt them more than saw them. “He can stay, but don’t touch—“

“Anything. Got you, boss bot.” Scavenger went to his post in the door and stood there, stock still and ready for anything. Megatron himself couldn’t get past that wall of metal, and with the other members of his gestalt crawling around the outside and front lobby, nothing could hurt anyone inside.

Optimus nodded and rushed off to the medical documentation center, a mixture of datapads, files, photos; all tucked away by First Aid. It made his protoform crawl to know someone could just steal all this, all the secrets and weaknesses of everyone under his protection and leadership. He armed his weapons, and waited with his back to a wall.

 

Xenogen calmed after a few hours, as did First Aid’s sputtering condition. Stabilizing out, the young medic finally came to properly and gave a statement to Ratchet about the situation, which was passed to Soundwave and in turn broadcasted over the Community Frequency, a bot-wide announcement to stay on the points of your feet.

Scavenger came over to hold Aid’s hand and frowned. “I’m sorry.” First Aid murmured it was fine, and just squeezed his hand. Scavenger knew this was out of his power but felt protecting First Aid fell on his shoulders. “You want to stay with me when you get out of here?” First Aid nodded and whispered softly.

“Nightmares. I was having nightmares, thought it was that until he swung at me.” Which would explain why his weapons were out. Night terrors from the war, the fastest growing epidemic in Xenogen and no cure in sight.

Scavenger sighed and shifted to kiss his forehead. “I’ll keep the bad guys away. You can rest easy now.” First Aid’s optics brightened happily before dimming into recharge. Ratchet put a hand up and motioned for him to stay near First Aid before going to attend to some cleaning around his ward. The old medic recognized Scavenger as First Aid’s personal cure for night terrors. Scavenger appreciated the gesture of understanding and sat post by First Aid the whole night and into the morning, keeping bad at bay as First Aid slept and began the long road to recovery.


End file.
